Shibboleth is an early-game higher-base-strength-than-install-cost decoder.
Note that Shibboleth is the only “unthreat” in The Automata Initiative (ie. the only card with a negative ability under a Threat _ → …
flag), being better earlier and worse later. These two expanded templatings would be equivalent:
- base
[3s]
andIf either player has 4, 5, and/or 6 agenda points, this program gets −2 strength.
- base
[1s]
andIf both players have 3, 2, 1, and/or 0 agenda points, this program gets +2 strength.
Flavor: A shibboleth (like a Passport) tells your state/megacorp where you're from, and thus a fake accent (like a fake ID) can let you flee to safety. The flavor text is a quote from Mercury (where the "accent" would be an unfree Nico's body language, speech patterns, cerebral imaging, or something like that).
Plus I love the word "shibboleth". And I can't wait for a "Palimpsest" card, the best word ever.
— Alyx
I am excessively happy that someone has spotted the parallel between "Shibboleth" and "Passport" in terms of not only mechanics but also name. :D
— Anzekay